- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Happiness is a butterfly, which when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you.
--Nathaniel Hawthorne
Such was the case today with the Mournful or Sad Dusky-Wing, Erynnis tristis (Hesperiidae).
UC Davis butterfly expert Arthur Shapiro, professor of evolution and ecology at the University of California, Davis, describes it as "Common below 2000, including the Sacramento Valley; the only Erynnis routinely found in cities. A strong flier but not a very dedicated puddler, it is multiple-brooded, from March to October. This is the only common Dusky-Wing with a white fringe (compare E. funeralis)."
Shapiro says the Mournful Dusky-Wing visits tall blue verbena, yerba santa, California buckeye and a variety of garden flowers, including the butterfly bush (Buddleia davidii).
Today it was visiting lavender, both purple and white lavender. It lingered long enough to be admired.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Call it the "Mournful Dusky-Wing" or the "Sad Dusky-Wing."
Call it what you will, but the Erynnis tristis, a member of the skipper butterfly family (Hesperiidae), is neither mournful nor sad when it's nectaring lavender.
The skipper, distinguishable from other dusky wings by its white fringe, is a frequent floral visitor.
As a caterpillar, its host is oak, including Valley Oak and Cork Oak, says UC Davis butterfly expert Art Shapiro, professor of evolution and ecology.
Compared with other butterflies, including the Western Tiger Swallowtail, "E. T." is not the most beautiful of butterflies.
It doesn't stand out in the crowd. But it does stand out in the lavender.